Blend/Claret/Meritage

Meritage is a proprietary term used to denote red and white Bordeaux-style wines without infringing on the Bordeaux region’s legally protected designation of origin. Winemakers must license the Meritage trademark from its owner, the California-based Meritage Alliance. Member wineries are found principally in the United Sates, though increasingly elsewhere. The Meritage agreement stipulates the blends that can be labeled “Meritage”, a fee per case and various labeling restrictions. A red Meritage must be made from at least two of these grapes, Cabernet and Merlot, with no varietal comprising more than 90% of the blend. White Meritage is a blend of at least two of the principal white Bordeaux grapes Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. The production is limited to no more than 25,000 cases in a winery.

Claret derives from the French “clairet” a now uncommon dark rose and the most common wine exported from Bordeaux until the 18th century. Claret is occasionally used in the United States as a semi-generic label for red wine in the style of the Bordeaux, ideally authentic to the region. The French themselves do not use the term, except for export purposes. The color “claret” resembles the red hue of Bordeaux wine. It has become a slang term for blood as in “tapping the claret” meaning giving someone a bloody nose. The standard style of Bordeaux wine has not always been deep red.